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Saturday, June 3, 2017

The 13th Disciple: The Matter of Crucifixion and Gospel of Judah

Question 8: As for the matter of crucifixion, to what does Imam Ahmad al-Hassan call the Christians?

Answer: Let the Christians pay attention to the matter that the crucifixion of Jesus is false, and I clarified its falsehood from the Gospel and the words of Jesus therein and his request to Allah to take the crucifixion and its torture away from him.[1] So it is either that Allah answered the prayer of Jesus PBUH and lifted him and sent down his look-alike, and this is the truth, or that Allah did not answer the prayer of Jesus PBUH. And the meaning of this saying of theirs is that Allah does not care for the prayer of Jesus PBUH.

And they also accuse Jesus PBUH of foolishness, weak perception and lack of knowledge, otherwise what does it mean that Jesus would ask Allah to take the crucifixion away from him if he was capable of having patience over the torment of crucifixion without complaining, while he knew that the matter of crucifixion is important in the march of the divine religion?[2]

Let them also pay attention to the historical document, the Gospel of Judah,[3] presented by the International Historical Society, and it is one of the ancient manuscripts found in Egypt, dating back to the be- ginning of the third century A.D, meaning before Islam and before the dispatch of Muhammad PBUHAP. This document mentions that Jesus was not crucified; rather, someone else who is his look-alike was crucified.

What concerns us is that the issue of the look-alike in general, regardless of the personification, has been present among Christians for more than 1700 years. As the saying goes, “Where there is smoke there is fire.” So if the issue did not have a trace, it would not have appeared among the former Christians and in their ideologies.[4]

The question that the Christians must pay attention to and ask themselves: From where did this sect of ancient Christians bring the thought that Jesus was not crucified and who was crucified was his look-alike? Is it just thoughts? Is this an intellectual matter or a report- ed historical one? Could it be said, for example, that this sect believed that Jesus PBUH was not crucified, and that who was crucified was his look-alike, without a historical report that was delivered to them from some of those who lived at the time of the crucifixion?!!!

I advise every free Christian to not pay attention to the saying of the Church today — that those who wrote this gospel or this text of the early Christians are a heretical group — because if you had asked this group too at that time about the tenets of the Church today, they would say it is a heresy; and if we had asked Arius and his followers about the Church today, they would have said it is heretical. So the act of the Church of considering all its Christian opposers heretical, as they do today with the Jehovah’s Witnesses, does not make any difference and it does not hide the truth that manifested clearly now, that what the Church says today is a controversial matter among the early Christians. Rather, it is still controversial till today, and the Christian sect of Jehovah’s Witnesses is the best proof today of this controversy.

The established truth now—concerning the crucifixion—is that there is a historical document which has been analyzed by the interna- tional authorities specialized in artifacts and by using the latest scientific methods and it proved to date back to the beginning of the third century A.D. It mentions that Jesus was not crucified, but there was a look-alike who was crucified instead. So will the Christians settle for the statement of the Church: That this document belongs to an ancient heretical Christian sect?!!!

Is this response from the Church scientific?! For example, is it not possible for any disagreer to say to them, “Why is it not you who are committing heresy??!” Is it not proper now after the manifestation of these facts that the issue of the crucifixion be researched objectively and scientifically away from fanaticism and blind imitation?

And this is a passage from the Gospel of Judah (and according to a translation which the Church verified with the Coptic text) stating clearly that Jesus was not crucified; rather, there was one who was made to resemble him and was crucified instead of him.

Gospel of Judah Scene 3:

•Judah said, “Master, could it be that my lineage is under the control of the rulers?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Come, that I [ ... two lines missing ... ], but that you will grieve much when you see the kingdom and all its generation.” When he heard this, Judah said to him, “What good is it that I have received it? For you have set me apart for that generation.” Jesus answered and said, “You will become the thirteenth, and you will be cursed by the other generations — and you will come to rule over them. In the last days they will curse your ascent [47] to the holy [generation]”• “But you will exceed all of them. For you will sacrifice the man that clothes me.”• “Already your horn has been raised, your wrath has been kindled, your star has shown brightly, and your heart has ... [57]”•

And in the previous passage:

First: Judah is made to resemble Jesus and is crucified instead of him, and he sacrifices himself.

Second: Judah will come at the end times to prevail. So Judah who is mentioned in some passages of the Gospel such as the previous one must be other than Judas Iscariot[5][6] who turned Jesus in as in the end of the Gospel of Judah,

"They approached Judas and said to him, “What are you doing here? You are Jesus’ disciple.” Judas answered them as they wished. And he received some money and handed him over to them." Gospel of Judah Scene 3.

Turning to the fact that the word Judah means “praise” (al-hamd) or Ahmad in Arabic, meaning the name of the Mahdi or the Savior or the Comforter promised at the end times; it is thus clarified that the intended one by the other Judah who was made to resemble Jesus, and was crucified instead of him, and who Jesus PBUH spoke to, saying that he will return and rule at the end times, is the Savior and the Comforter and the Mahdi, Ahmad, mentioned in the Torah, the Gospel, the Quran and the Will of the Messenger of Allah Muhammad PBUHAP. [7]

[1] And these are some of his sayings, •And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”• Matthew 26:39. •And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”• Mark 14:35-36. •And he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”• Luke 22:41-42.

[2] Further clarification concerning the issue of the look-alike will come in the next topic, as for the importance of crucifixion and sacrifice, refer to Appendix 4.

[3] Refer to Appendix 3.

[4] In his bookThe Gospel ofJudah, Does its Discoveryaffect Christianity?, Fr. Abdul Maseeh Bassit acknowledges that this Gospel existed in the year of 180 A.D, and although he rejects the Gospel, what matters to me now is that he acknowledges the age of the document. Concerning the Christian group that believes in the Gospel of Judah, he says, “The first to mention this group and its ideologies from the fathers of the first Church, and who wrote about their com- pilation of the Gospel of Judah was St. Irenaeus the Bishop of Lugdunum (currently France) in 180 A.D. And this man was a student of St. Polycareous who was a student of St. John, the student of Jesus Christ.” And the date which the Father presents means that what the Christians believe in from what is mentioned in the Gospel of Judah was before Islam and before the Council of Nicaea held in 325 A.D. Refer to appendix 2.

[5] Judah is the anglicized rendering of the same name. —Trans.

[6] It is worthy of mentioning that what caused the clerics of the Church to denounce the Gospel of Judah was their belief that Judah mentioned in it was Judas Iscariot. Metropolitan Bishoy says, “How Could Judas Iscariot be the Author? If Judas committed suicide after be- traying the Lord Christ, then when did he write it? Especially since it writes of the final hours before Crucifixion.” Reference:SimplifyingFaith Lectures, “Lecture 16: The Gospel of Judas”.

And a simiar saying is by Father Thomas D. Williams, Dean of Theology at the Regina Apostolorum University in Rome, “The document [Gospel of Judah] paints Judas Iscariot in a positive light.”

And the least one can say about such an understanding is that it is scientific treachery of making the matter ambiguous to people, because the Gospel of Judah does not have a statement mentioning its author to be Judas Iscariot; rather, this is only the understanding of the clerics of the Church. So certainty in the treachery of Judas Iscariot requires to not refer the name Judah in this document to him, and to search for another person named Judah who was present at the time of crucifixion, and who was the crucified one instead of Jesus PBUH after Allah answered his prayer and passed the cup of crucifixion from him, as is clear in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. And the passages were mentioned earlier.

[7] For further information, refer to the bookThe Successor and Messenger ofImam al-Mahdi in the Torah, the Gospel and the QuranandThe Letter ofGuidance, both by Imam Ahmad al- Hassan PBUH, and his other books as well which revealed many divine truths that are unknown to the clerics of all religions.